Sheffield takes in 500 refugees in five years

Refugees and migrants wait to pass the borders from the northern Greek village of Idomeni, to southern Macedonia, today.The country has borne the brunt of a massive refugee and migration flow of people heading into the European Union.

Sheffield has taken in almost 500 refugees in five years under a national programme to rehome those fleeing conflicts.

New Sheffield Council figures show that a total of 484 people from eight countries including Ethiopia, Sudan, Bhutan and Iraq have been taken in.

The figures relate to the national Government Gateway Protection Programme, whereby the council is paid by central government to meet the costs of rehoming the refugees.

On Monday, Sheffield Council announced it will immediately welcome another ‘10 to 15’ Syrian families in addition to the 130 refugees it has already agreed to resettle under the national programme this year.

But not everyone has welcomed the news, with many taking to social media to speak out against more refugees being moved into Sheffield.

UKIP councillor for West Ecclesfield, John Booker, has called for the government to close the UK’s borders in order to prioritise taking refugees fleeing Syria.

He said: “I have written to David Cameron to ask him to halt the free movement of people in the EU temporarily because this is a major disaster and we have those powers in an emergency.

“Then we can help those in real danger by putting them up, temporarily, rather than those just coming here for a better life.”